Do the demographics of a constituency affect which party it’s likely to vote for? Our data tool lets you compare how constituencies with different demographic profiles voted at the 2019 General Election.
The 2021 census provides an unmatched level of demographic detail about constituencies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland’s census was delayed by a year, and data is not yet available).
Using our tool, you can see the proportion of people in each constituency with a particular demographic trait (such as being aged 18-24) and whether the trend is different for constituencies which voted for different parties.
Explore the data
Use the drop-down menu below to select a census variable. The text explains what the variable measures and the trend across all constituencies. The chart underneath shows how individual constituencies scored on your chosen variable, and how they voted in 2019.
Does this data tell us how different demographic groups voted?
When using this tool, keep in mind that statistics about a whole area don’t describe all of its residents. Looking at constituency data alone can’t tell us how a particular demographic group voted.
In some cases, the voting trend at constituency level might be entirely different to the trend at individual level or in a particular group. This is particularly likely to happen when the demographic group in question only makes up a small part of the constituency’s voting population.
For example, a constituency with a relatively high proportion of veterans may have voted Conservative. But we don’t know for sure whether it was the veterans driving the Conservative vote, or other people in the constituency.
Some demographic characteristics correlate with each other, which complicates the picture. We know that veterans are likely to be older, and that older people are more likely to vote Conservative. On its own, constituency data doesn’t tell us whether veterans are more likely to vote Conservative than other people their age.
Find more constituency data
Looking for more detailed constituency data? See our constituency data dashboards for 2021 census topics, or browse all our constituency and local area data.
Sources
Office for National Statistics, 2021 census: Create a custom dataset
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2021 census: Flexible table builder
House of Commons Library, General Election 2019: full results and analysis
Notes on census questions
Separate 2021 censuses were administered in England and Wales (by the ONS) and in Northern Ireland (by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, NISRA).
In some cases, questions on the census were phrased in different ways. We have combined data where the questions are broadly comparable, but please note the differences described below.
Disability
The variable “percentage of people who are disabled” shows the proportion of people who say they have a physical or mental health condition or illness expected to last 12 months or more.
In England and Wales, respondents were asked, “Do you have any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses lasting or expected to last 12 months or more?”.
If they answered yes, they were asked a further question of “Do any of your conditions or illnesses reduce your ability to carry out day-to-day activities?”.
In Northern Ireland, respondents were asked a single question: “Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or expected to last, at least 12 months?”
Ethnic group
Census respondents were asked the question “What is your ethnic group?”.
In England and Wales, response options were grouped under the headers “White”, “Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups”, “Asian or Asian British”, “Black, Black British, Caribbean or African” and “Other ethnic group”. Respondents could tick a box or write in their own response under one of these headers.
In Northern Ireland, the tick-box options were different and were not grouped under headers. The options “White”, “Irish Traveller”, and “Roma” were presented separately, but have been grouped together as “White” in this dashboard in order to be consistent with the categorisation used in England and Wales.
Religion
In England and Wales, respondents were asked the question “What is your religion?”. Respondents could tick a box (choosing from “Christian” or one of several other religious groups, as well as “No religion”) or write in their own response.
In Northern Ireland, respondents were asked “What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?”. Tick boxes were provided for several Christian denominations and “None”, as well as the option for respondents to write in their own response.
A separate question also asked respondents about the religion they were brought up in.
Because the religion questions are phrased differently, data for England, Wales and Northern Ireland are not directly comparable and differences shown on this dashboard should be interpreted with caution.